Comments on: Seven Reasons To Replace The Hoan Bridge

By: Jeff

Jeff — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 06:29:49 +0000

The city of Racine doesnt even have one four lane road north to Milwaukee, extending the Lake Parkway south into Racine county is desperately needed. As it is now, I-94 is 15 minutes away from Racine. No wonder not many people come here to visit. When will our leaders wake up?

By: Tom

Tom — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 17:51:28 +0000

Dave here’s the kicker then,
How long are you willing to wait for these new developments to make sense?
5 years? 10?
We need to make a decision now.
We have a bridge deck that needs to be replaced in 2 years or less.
We have a super structure that should be good for 50+ years.
If we skip the redecking, tear the whole thing down, build new ramps, approches,
lift bridge, that will cost millions more then redecking. And take 2-3 times longer.
And disrupt traffic for 1-2 years. How much is it going to cost the port and our econommy
as a whole if we have to send the truck traffic that the port needs onto side streets.
What if it takes 10+ years for the realestate market and our economy in gerneral to
get to a point where more condos are needed in this new section of the third ward?

Current third ward buisnesses are not going to happy about losing a lot of buisness
during constructiuon. And who knows if much of the south side will ever come back.

I live on the south shore and thanks to the Hoan, I have an easy time getting to places
like Fanatics and The Milwaukee Ale house. Get rid of the Hoan and I’m staying near home
(the new St. Francis Brewery is great).

In this economy the only thing that makes sense is redecking. Once that happens,
then we have 40-50 years to discuss how to make that land in the third ward open for
development.

By: Dave Reid

Dave Reid — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 19:45:46 +0000

@Rick I guess we’re just going to disagree on this one. The visual appeal of the Hoan bridge itself, might be wonderful but the connecting bridges it requires are blighting. And to me this blighting is far more negative than the Hoan is positive.

By: Rick Thrun

Rick Thrun — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 19:42:56 +0000

@Dave-I’m all for economic stability and growth, city revitalization and cultural opportunities. I think we agree on this. Drawing more people (to live) into the Third Ward is a good thing. However, the value and draw of a community isn’t and shouldn’t be premised on how many new condos you build-at the expense (teardown) of it’s existing iconic features. That’s the fundamental difference between urban and suburban mindset . Build lots of lots out in the suburbs and in the end what do you have? Lots of insulated people and artificial business development to sustain them. People haven’t been selling their homes in the “burbs and relocating downtown because they yearn for more Applebys, mega-cineplexes and oddlot shoe stores. They want to get back in touch with the “real-ness” of their city. The Hoan bridge is part of that landscape.

By: Dave Reid

Dave Reid — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 19:15:39 +0000

@Rick “More condos will not now, or in the foreseeable future be a magic pill.” Certainly, though I’d point out the top 10 condo projects in the 4th district pay more in taxes than two of the Aldermanic districts. That does matter. That said it isn’t simply about more tax base but really building out the Third Ward. The Third Ward needs more population, to support the area business, and again this helps in that regard… Surely the Hoan has some benefits, but to me, the value, and how the city could be knit back together is much more important and valuable.

By: John

John — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 04:14:52 +0000

I don’t know if this has been touched upon but what if instead of building smaller bridges to replace the Hoan, they just dug tunnels. Kinda how Mass did it with their big dig (minus all the headache). I think having lake drive extended would be a boon for Milwaukee. Instead of having bridges mess with the flow of water traffic they could build some tunnels under the waterways. This should make the flow of vehicular traffic constant (and make the southern suburbs) and extend lake drive. Again, i don’t know if this can be achieved.

By: Rick Thrun

Rick Thrun — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 15:55:14 +0000

Dave-I don’t disagree. I am not against opening up and utilizing excessive ramp structures, although I do think people who have expressed the benefit to go west with minimum street hassle have a valid point. That will be their agenda. I am most concerned with giving our city’s aesthetics a voice that isn’t valued only by what tax can come from it. More condos will not now, or in the foreseeable future be a magic pill. There is glut now and many developments stand half built or hardly occupied. Supply and demand 101. A vital city needs a heart and soul-and an identity. IMHO, Milwaukee suffers from an identity crisis not best served by the tax, slash and burn mentality of our politicians. I wouldn’t want most of these politicos and their minions planning my kid’s birthday party much less the city’s future vision.

By: Dave Reid

Dave Reid — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 00:18:07 +0000

@Rick It is my understanding that that a lower bridge could be at 60 feet to handle most Milwaukee leisure boaters. As far as future condo development that could come about by removing the flyover ramps, none of that would happen next year. It’s not like this could happen overnight, simply the time of getting through the politics and then the actual demo work would be years, then no development happens overnight, but overtime removing the flyover ramps would open up some of the best land in Wisconsin.

I’d add though certainly, minimizing the number of times it might up would be a priority.

By: Rick Thrun

Rick Thrun — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 23:46:27 +0000

My wife and I recently bought a condo in the Third Ward. Part of it’s attraction and certainly it’s value is that that we look at unobstructed views of the lake, Summerfest, the river and the Hoan bridge. This vantage point gives me a pretty comprehensive view of the lay of the land and the land mass that would be affected by any massive work done addressing the bridge. I have 2 comments to add to this discussion.

First a subjective one-the shape and structure of the bridge, in my opinion, should not be underestimated as a waterfront icon and gate to Milwaukee. Let’s not forget the importance that our proximity to Lake Michigan is unique to our DNA, historically and symbolically. We aren’t San Francisco with her Bay and Golden Gate bridges, but this is OUR bridge. Replacing it with a smaller bridge or a street level solution for dubious economic tax gains is extremely short sighted.

Second-about that smaller bridge option… The comments made by people downsizing the water traffic certainly aren’t seeing what I see from my deck. The very large freighters and tankers will obviously be affected. But let’s not forget about the much greater amount of pleasure boating that takes place as sailboaters-and I see a lot of them, sometimes a dozen an hour or more-use the river to get to moorings, Riverwalk restaurants and bars, and their condos. If the bridge was replaced with a new, smaller one with a 45-50 ft clearence over the water as suggested above, a rather modest sailboat of 27 ft length, with typically a 49 ft mast would not clear the bridge. Bridges in Florida that scan waterways with significant boat traffic are often 70 ft. so they don’t have to open so often. It should be in our interest to look for ways to welcome this revenue, not make it difficult and just plain ugly and homogenous for the sake of increasing tax revenues. And the argument for building more condos does not hold water. Just read the paper-or take it from someone who spent almost a year looking at failed developments looking for buyers!

By: Dave Reid

Dave Reid — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 16:33:23 +0000

@Frank Ummmm we UrbanMilwaukee.com don’t believe the land of value is near the port. We are talking about land in the Third Ward close to the US Bank, which btw is the most valuable land in Wisconsin. Even with minimum heights such as 6 stories we are talking about 500,000 sq feet of prime Third Ward/Downtown land.